Six months old. I just love this boy. When my mom was down here recently, she mentioned how she can see the euphoria that surrounds him. He truly has been such an incredible bubble of happiness in our lives. I mean, all babies are wonderful - but Caleb, he is just such a joy.
Official Stats:
Weight: 16 lbs 0.5 oz (19%)
Length: 27.6 in (85%)
Head circ.: 44.3 cm (76%)
Unofficial Stats:
He's just long, not big (he dropped dramatically in the weight percentile this month). Although he still has some darling little chub on his legs and cheeks, he's really just long. He's in 9 month clothes (and seriously, some of those onsies/bodysuits are getting too short for him!), Size 2 diapers. No teeth, but lots of drool. Very little hair. His eyelashes have finally grown completely in, but they are pretty light.
Things to remember:
-He's generous with his smiles if you pay a bit of attention to him, but his laughs are reserved for special people and very rare occasions. (My mom, David's Dad, and Lydia are some of the few that he grants laughs unto.)
-He's so handsome.
-He's super super drooly, but I haven't seen any teeth poking through. But he drools all over us, Lydia kind of thinks it's the best thing to get her face close enough that he can grab her and pull her to his mouth, then giggle-protest when he gets his slobber on her.
-Lydia loves him so much. She makes sure he always has a toy to play with, she talks to him, she constantly wants to be hanging out with him. I wish I could capture the way she sleepily comes out of her bedroom and says "Where's Caleb??" Because he's the first thing she wants to see in the morning. The other day she was playing with him and started giggling. When I asked her what was up, she pointed out that she had put this superhero mask on Caleb and "He really likes it!" And he really did. He was all grins and she thought it was the best thing ever.
--Austin still just adores him. I think that 90% of the pictures taken of Austin are of him smothering Caleb with love.
-In the last couple of months we fully transitioned him out of the swaddle and into the Zippidee-Zip. But then we had to buy a new, larger Zip because he's just so darn long! It seems to have been an effective transition, although he's hit some sort of sleep regression and that's been difficult to know what to do. He's started waking up again at that 2 o'clock-ish time. So now he goes to bed about 8:30, wakes up at 2:30, 4:30, and 6:30. Sometimes he even throws a 11-12-ish wakeup in there too. I feel like he's sleeping worse than he was as a newborn! Especially because it takes longer to get him back to sleep. We've moved him completely into the crib now, so he's not sleeping in our room anymore. I kind of miss him being so close, because when I'm so tired it's hard for me to get back to my room after he falls asleep so I've started sleeping with him in the chair - which is not what I want to be doing. So, something is going to have to change. Even so, he very rarely, if ever, cries inconsolably even when he's tired at night.
His naps have gotten less consistent and much shorter, and I think that's one of the things that is making his night sleep worse. I just think he's too tired. So the first item of business is to help his napping, and I think that will help his night sleeping as well.
-Caleb just loves his dad. Whenever he comes into the house and Caleb hears his voice, I can feel a change in the way his is holding his body. He gets excited and starts looking around, craning his neck to try to see David. He smiles huge smiles and is always just so happy to see him. I have a pretty busy Sunday calling (Primary President) and even though David is in the Elders Quorum Presidency he usually takes Caleb. David is so good at getting him to fall asleep and it's the sweetest thing!
-He's starting to sit up! Not for very long at a time, and not without support - but he looks SO big!
-He does great in his carseat, but also does great while I'm wearing him in the Beco. Seriously, he's the most chill little baby. I love to wear him, and have even started wearing him on my back. But he's content enough to hang out in his carseat - to the point that I would take Lydia and Austin swimming and just leave him in his carseat by the chairs so he could see the pool and he'd just hang out while the kids were swimming.
--And speaking of carseats, he is SO good in the car. We recently went on a trip deemed "The Fastest Road Trip Ever" where we drove to Boise and back in less than 30 hours. (About a 6-6.5 hours drive each way). Of the 13-ish hours in the car, Caleb only fussed for about 10 minutes total. And even then we started feeding him some applesauce and he calmed down enough to make it to the next gas station to take a break. A lot of times he's really good in the car for about an hour or an hour and a half then he gets grumpy. But he has this uncanny ability to just "be good" whenever we really need him to be good.
*A note about carseats: he is truly so good in his carseat that quite frequently I will be driving and then all of the sudden I'll think "Oh no! Is Caleb back there???" He's just so quiet in the car. David does the same thing. It's not like we would really have forgotten to bring him, but it's this irrational fear that hits when he's been quiet for too long. We've started calling out "Toe Check!" Because when turning around in the front all we can see are his little toes sticking out the end of his seat. It's not uncommon to have several toe checks a car ride, just for reassurance. I also often ask Lydia if Caleb is awake or asleep because she can see him from her seat.
**A second note, neither Lydia nor Austin would actually let me forget Caleb. If we ever leave without him (like my mom is at my house and says she can watch him while I run to the bus stop or something) they both demand to know where he is before they let me drive away. They love that little brother of theirs.
--He's really gotten strong and can lift his head/body up really well when he's on his tummy. He's not scooting or crawling yet, but he definitely wiggles/rolls to his side then back enough to move around a bit. He used to be able to roll both ways, but he seems to have forgotten to roll from his tummy to his back. So now he rolls from his back to his tummy almost instantly, then stays there until he gets grumpy enough for me to come help roll him back over.
-People comment on his blue eyes, but I think they are more grey than anything else. I still think that there is a good chance that they will change as he gets older.
-I can't believe that I don't have a picture of this. I'm sure that we took one, but I can't find it. But - Austin started solid food at about 5.5 months. I was a little wary because he's still not sitting up unsupported very well - but he has just been so interested in food that we decided to let him try it. The very first time he downed the entire container of squash. He could not get it in his mouth fast enough. And pretty much every time after that is the same. He opens his mouth and chomps on the spoon awkwardly moving his tongue around to ensure that every last drop makes in into his little tummy. He was definitely ready for food and it's a true joy in his life. Ha. (We've been only feeding him at dinnertime, but at 6 months he's already wanting food at lunch and dinner, too.)
It's been a half of a year that this boy has been in our family. A family of five. We are so so lucky to have him, and to have each other.
We love you Caleb, darling!
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